Blog

Musings on personal finance and more. Not written with AI since 2012.

Fishing partners

Why can’t we talk about money with our partners?

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I’ve talked about why it’s so hard to share financial struggles with your friends and peer group. But surely you can talk to a partner right? This is a person with which you want to travel through life. And yet, this … Read More … Read More

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Old car in field

Why can’t we talk about money with our friends?

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Do you have someone you can talk about money with? Notice that before you can answer that question, we actually need to specify what kind of conversation we’re having. “Talking about money” can mean not only the nuts and bolts … Read More … Read More

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The time I almost thought that Amazon Prime was a good deal for me

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I’ve talked about Amazon Prime before. My general take is that it’s probably not worth it, unless you would be paying for the music/movie streaming service, or buy a lot of stuff from Amazon. Amazon really really really wants you … Read More … Read More

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Sailboats

How to open a Roth IRA with Vanguard

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I’ve made no secret about a number of things: Retirement planning is something we need to do, and right now. The best way for everyone to plan for retirement is through investing. A Roth IRA is an investment vehicle that … Read More … Read More

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Over-water bungalows

Why standard hotel stays can be better than aspirational hotel stays

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I’ve been very fortunate to stay at some pretty nice hotels. A few years ago, I stayed at the Grand Wailea on Maui for a night. I was (as far as I could tell), the only traveler staying there who … Read More … Read More

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Hotel sign

How I redeemed my points from the Priceless Surprises promotion

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Earlier this year, I talked about the Priceless Surprises promotion. Put on by Mastercard and IHG, the company behind Holiday Inn and a bunch of other brands, this sweepstakes was ostensibly about staying at lots of hotels, but had a … Read More … Read More

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Mountain Climbing

The resolve of the mountain climber, or how to deal with financial overwhelm

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I think of building wealth and becoming financially secure as a process not unlike climbing a mountain. It’s a big one, and it’s hard going, and it involves a lot of successes and setbacks along the way. The top of … Read More … Read More

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Sunset on the balcony

How do people do it?

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It’s not hard to look around and be amazed. You hear about your co-worker’s most recent trip to Hawaii. Your friends post on Instagram a gorgeous sunset taken from the middle of the South Pacific. And then you move on … Read More … Read More

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Bucket being filled

How to pay for non-emergencies

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We know what an emergency is. It’s an incident that is both unexpected, urgent, and unavoidable (and unfortunate). When you have an emergency, you use money from your emergency fund. (And if you have debt, here’s how you can still … Read More … Read More

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U Boat

How to know when something is really an emergency

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I’ve talked a lot about emergencies, those unfortunate aspects of life that you have to deal with sometimes, ones that often require a monetary outlay (dipping into your emergency fund, if you have one). I’ve made comments as to things … Read More … Read More

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